Built First Computer, Now What ???

P

PTVtrader

I built my first computer last night, but don't know the best way to set it up ?

Should I only have the OS on 1 partition then create another partition to put all my files and folders on ?

When should I make a disk image ? right after I install the OS and OS is updated or after I install all the programs that I use ?

Should I do something completely different ?

I trying to set things up right but clueless on how to.

Here's the specs :

Case - Antec 900
CPU - Quad 9550
MB - Gigabyte ga-ep45-ud39 atx
HDD - WD 500gb sata
Memory - OCZ 4gb ddr2-1066 gold
Video card - 2 x ATI radeon hd4650
Power - OCZ 600w stealth stream
 
Quote from PTVtrader:

I built my first computer last night, but don't know the best way to set it up ?

Should I only have the OS on 1 partition then create another partition to put all my files and folders on ?

When should I make a disk image ? right after I install the OS and OS is updated or after I install all the programs that I use ?

Should I do something completely different ?

I trying to set things up right but clueless on how to.

Here's the specs :

Case - Antec 900
CPU - Quad 9550
MB - Gigabyte ga-ep45-ud39 atx
HDD - WD 500gb sata
Memory - OCZ 4gb ddr2-1066 gold
Video card - 2 x ATI radeon hd4650
Power - OCZ 600w stealth stream
More...

I prefer a dedicated drive for the OS and program files.

Completely different drive for folders and data.

And I use a dedicated system for trading. If you just built a box, you likely have another box. Use that old box for surfing, mail, news, etc. so you're not clogging up and bogging down (and infecting with virus') that nice new box you just built.

After you have completely set up and tested your trading system, that's the time to image the OS drive.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
Quote from mgookin:

I prefer a dedicated drive for the OS and program files.

Completely different drive for folders and data.

And I use a dedicated system for trading. If you just built a box, you likely have another box. Use that old box for surfing, mail, news, etc. so you're not clogging up and bogging down (and infecting with virus') that nice new box you just built.

After you have completely set up and tested your trading system, that's the time to image the OS drive.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
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Thanks, just for clarification, I need to partition my hard drive for the folders and data and then image both drives to an external hard drive ? Also, how big should I make the partition?

I'm thinking of using Macrium Reflect for the image.
 
Quote from PTVtrader:

Thanks, just for clarification, I need to partition my hard drive for the folders and data and then image both drives to an external hard drive ? Also, how big should I make the partition?

I'm thinking of using Macrium Reflect for the image.
More...

I've used Acronis for years. You can get a fully functional free trial from their website.
 
Quote from PTVtrader:

Thanks, just for clarification, I need to partition my hard drive for the folders and data and then image both drives to an external hard drive ? Also, how big should I make the partition?

I'm thinking of using Macrium Reflect for the image.
More...

I'm not one to partition drives as it does not accomplish my objective of having separate (physical) drives for OS and data.

My suggestion is to use that 500GB drive for a data drive and go get yourself a smaller Enterprise Series drive for the OS. If you had a 100gb drive for your OS you will likely never come close to filling it with program files. I think the most I ever had was around 60 or 80 gb of OS and program files on a drive and that's running everything Adobe makes (friend used to be an official Adobe installer), OfficeXP Pro, WinXP Pro, Autocad, etc.

Then on my data drive I have many hundreds of gb of MP3 files (thanks Napster back in the day!), jpeg's, autocad files, etc. etc. etc.
 
Just following up (might help someone).

- Re-installed the OS and partitioned the 500gb hard into 2 drives. The first one is 150gb which holds the OS and program files. The other 350gb is for data. I used this tutorial to move "My Documents" folder.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_move_my_documents.htm

_ I then formatted an external hard drive(500gb) from fat32 to NTFS using this

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/advanced/ntfs.mspx

- Then, created and scheduled backups of my data drive to the external drive using xp pro built in backup program

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/maintain/backupfiles.mspx

- Then, using macrium reflect, created disc images of both my os/program files drive and data drive onto the external hard drive using -

http://www.macrium.com/blog/2008/03/25/HowToCreateADiskImageWithMacriumReflect.aspx

I think I'm good to go unless anyone has reccommendations.
 
FWIW... Macrium claims it is MUCH faster at imaging than Acronis.. I tried to make an image with Macrium and it locked up my computer... probably something on my rig, though.
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

FWIW... Macrium claims it is MUCH faster at imaging than Acronis.. I tried to make an image with Macrium and it locked up my computer... probably something on my rig, though.
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It only took a little over 3 minutes to image about 10 gb if I remember correctly. The only complaint that I have about Macrium free is not being able to schedule incremental images. It was an easy and painless process.
 
Quote from PTVtrader:

It only took a little over 3 minutes to image about 10 gb if I remember correctly. The only complaint that I have about Macrium free is not being able to schedule incremental images. It was an easy and painless process.
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Well then, Macrium isn't all that much faster than Acronis when imaging to external USB hard drive (maybe it's USB limitation..?) Acronis images 12GB in 4 minutes.
 
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